Viognier

The most
extraordinary thing about the story of Viognier is how very nearly and how very
recently it almost shrivelled to extinction. When I wrote
Vines, Grapes
& Wines
in 1985 (for publication in 1986) I was able to identify
records of just 32 ha (80 acres) of it planted in the entire world. As I
wrote then, 'quantitatively, the Viognier vine hardly deserves a mention in
this book', yet I was audacious enough to include it among vine varieties I
labelled 'major' (as opposed to the 'classic' ones, the ones we would today
call 'international').

In the mid 1980s almost all the officially planted Viognier in the world was
planted in the Rhône Valley, most of it in the Condrieu appellation on the
right bank of the northern Rhône. But the terraces there are so steep and
difficult to maintain that these 23 ha (57 acres) were all that remained of an
officially allowed total for the appellation of 200 ha (500 acres). By 2011, however,
Condrieu plantings had risen to 160 ha (400 acres) and the variety was known and
often grown virtually throughout the world of wine - chiefly because of its
extraordinary combination of perfume and body. Viognier could truly be said to
be the hedonist's white grape variety, even if it is often the vintner's
headache - and the drinker's headache too, come to that - for it has to be left
on the vine for a very long time before its characteristic heady aroma fully
develops.

This has variously been described as reminiscent of apricots, May blossom,
honeysuckle, ripe peaches, musk. It is certainly distinctive, and is in the
fruit and flower spectrum rather than the mineral or animal one. Some producers
of inexpensive varietal Viognier seem to think that if they include a portion
of Muscat with over-produced Viognier fruit, then this will suffice. They are
wrong. Other cheap Viogniers, especially but not exclusively basic Pays d'Oc
wines, have such strangely cosmetic aromas, more reminiscent of air freshener
than anything that grows in the ground, that I have been tempted to think that
an artificial flavouring has been used.

No, the best Viognier has this heady characteristic scent that one feels
envelops the glass and drinker in a cloud, together with real density and
extract and, ideally, a dry finish. I have yet to taste an impressive Viognier
that was less than 13% alcohol - but I have tasted many that seemed top-heavy
and too alcoholic.

There is much discussion about both the residual sugar level and the ageing
potential of Viognier. Old hands in the village of Condrieu remember a time
when it was routinely vinified sweet. Whether this was a matter of taste or
because the musts were too rich to ferment to dryness, I know not. Personally,
I find the alcohol of a good Viognier already confers a certain sweetness on
the wine and that any more can be a bit much for my taste. I also find Viognier
one of the finest grapes to develop early - by which I mean that I personally
treasure its seductive primary aromas and have rarely been impressed by
examples more than a few years old. The wines are generally relatively low in
acidity which can seem more and more of a problem, to my palate at least, with
age.

Condrieu has, fortunately, been experiencing a revival and injection of real
winemaking ambition so that old names such as Vernay have been revived and
relative newcomers such as Cuilleron, Gangloff, Niero and Villard have
contributed to an overall raising of standards. Furthermore, attention and
investment from such quality-conscious merchants as Guigal and Delas has
resulted in some superb bottlings, of which Guigal's La Doriane has a
particular following.

The only other all-Viognier appellation in the world is just south of Condrieu,
the single-property Château-Grillet, set in a potentially magnificent
amphitheatre of vineyard. For years it seemed blithely unaffected by rising
standards everywhere else but has now been taken in hand by the team that runs
Bordeaux first growth Château Latour.

In marked contrast to the 1980s, Viognier is now planted widely all over
southern France and pops up in hundreds of blended whites, often including
other Rhône varieties
Marsanne (which
shares its puppy fat problem) and
Roussanne
(whose alluring bouquet can easily be submerged by that of Viognier). Other
common fellow ingredients include
Grenache Blanc (another full-bodied grape), Bourboulenc (nicely tart), Maccabeo and Vermentino, also known as Rolle.

The variety is now encountered as a particularly fragrant and usually
full-bodied varietal white wine all over the world. In Italy it was pioneered
by Ascheri in Piemonte and d'Alessandro of Manzano in Tuscany who, like others,
has demonstrated how very well Viognier blends with Chardonnay - especially
Chardonnay that is reasonably high in acidity. In Austria the leading Viognier
exponent is Graf Hardegg of the Weinviertel, while Henri Cruchon leads the
field in Switzerland. All over Europe growers are experimenting with this
distinctive and intriguing variety.

In South Africa the first grower to
be canny enough to clear Viognier through the strict quarantine enforced there
was Charles Back of Fairview. Australia's Viognier pioneer par excellence has
been Yalumba which now produces Viogniers at all levels of price and quality -
some oaked (intense Viognier can certainly take sophisticated oak treatments).
New Zealand has difficulty ripening Viognier to quite the fullness needed for
aromatic expression but is working on it. Chile is now producing a clutch of
reasonably convincing (and very well- priced) Viogniers, and the variety is
already well established on the other side of the Andes in Mendoza, notably
behind the Santa Julia label.

Horton in Virginia has carved out a reputation for its Viognier but the place
which has had perhaps the greatest success with varietal Viognier outside
France is California. Ever since Joseph Phelps of Napa persisted with getting
cuttings through the Davis virus treatment program in the mid 1980s, the
variety has gone from strength to strength in the golden state, strength being
the operative word. Many of these golden, heady wines are 14 or 15% alcohol but
Alban, Calera, Jade Mountain, Kunde and Qupé - in short, California's Rhône
Rangers - have all made some Viogniers of note. In Washington state, McCrea is
the leading exponent.

But in the 21st century Viognier is increasingly found in red wines. Ambitious
and experimental winemakers, particularly in Australia and California, have
been copying the original recipe for the North Rhône red wine Côte Rôtie which
was Syrah with a seasoning of Viognier. They claim that a small
proportion, around 5% say, helps stabilise the wine's colour and
deepen its texture. Clonakilla in Canberra District was Australia's pioneer of
this technique which has been copied around the globe, even if it is by no
means common in the Rhône today.

DNA analysis has shown a close relationship between Viognier and Syrah.